An American Hero
plunk-plunk
turn
fire
swish
though a ball through a net
doesn't make that much sound
and there were three seconds left
and
"yeah" "wow" "rock it"
Frank Manello made the shot
the Nuthins won
shouldn't have won
bunch of freshmen
against sophomores
first round intramurals
won
yeah, Frank
you got the stuff
************
four years later
Vietnam
a booby trap
platoon on patrol
no cheers
just death
Frank
hero
***********
and so now
everything is patched up
the business interests
run tours to Vietnam
everything hunky-dory
except Frank
his life
is now the memory
of that spin and shoot
and the name on a wall
in Washington
forever
as long as a name
can be carved into stone
Dan Cuddy is currently an editor of The Loch Raven Review. He has been published in many small magazines , e.g, Antioch Review, Free State Review, Iguana Review, The Potomac, Connections, L’Allure des Mots. In 2003 his book Handprint On The Window was published by Three Conditions Press.